Constructive Relations Essay, Research Paper
Constructive Relations”In the name of peace, international cooperation, democracy, trade and human rights, the struggle for power is underway between the United States, and China. This struggle is motivated by the natural clash of national interests, and almost preordained process in the contemporary state system. The struggle for power has been the dynamic element of history, and it is likely to be in the future. International war(s) may or may not ensue between the two major powers, but their relations will remain competitive, and at times quite hostile.” (Malik, 1996). China over the last hundred years has gone about many changes, from being a nation of one, to a nation of separation, all because of different beliefs that the people held. China has seen a lot a war, whether it be with another country or among itself. China has the largest population of any country: 1,133,682,501. China’s population is expanding approximately 15 million each year. This rapid growth has occurred because China’s death rate has dropped severely. Since 1978 the Chinese government has promoted the one-child family among the Han. (All couples are urged to have only one child.) September of 1982, the Chinese Communist Party declared that the nation must limit be the end of the century it’s population to 1.2 billion. This goal will require an intense population control. Already 24 couples have pledged to have only one child. China is one of the oldest nations on earth; it has had an organized government established since about 1726 bc. On October 1, 1949, the Chinese Communist Party was established. The People’s Republic of China is organized as a hierarchy, a pyramid-like structure with the power concentrated at the top. The highest party office was the Chairman, Mao Zedong, who held it for more than 25 years. In order to ensure that the power Mao Zedong, held was never again concentrated in one person again, the new party constitution was adopted in 1982. Abolishing the Chairman’s full power. The National Party Congress is supposed to meet every five years. When it is not in session, a Central Committee of 200 members takes charge. They are elected by the congress. The Central Committee elects the Political Bureau, which consists of 25 full members and three alternates. Within the Political Bureau, is now where the power is concentrated, and the highest levels of decisions of state are made. The new government had taken control of a country tired by two generations of war and social conflict, and an economy torn by high inflation, and turned it into a steady shift toward a centralized national government. Beginning in late 1978 the Chinese Party has been trying to move the economy from a slow moving Soviet-style centrally planned economy to one that is more market-oriented, but still within the controlled political framework of the ridged Communist Party. The result has been a strong surge in production. Agricultural output doubled in the 1980s and industry also posted major gains, especially in coastal areas near Hong Kong and opposite Taiwan, where foreign investment and modern production methods helped spur output of both domestic and export goods. In China agricultural and rural activities are important for several reasons. Farming provides food and fiber needed for the livelihood of China’s people. At the same time, about 80 percent of the people depend on agriculture or related activities for their sustenance. Even though industry and manufacturing contribute the largest half of China’s total gross, agriculture is the economic way of life followed by most of the population. Agriculture provides employment for those just entering the work force. Which means between 12 and 16 million new workers each year. In China the industrial sector is, for purposes of government planning, composed of manufacturing, mining, electrical-power generation, and building and construction. By the mid 80s there were more than 300,000 industrial enterprises. The iron and steel industry is a priority in China. The country now produces a great variety of steel products such as, tungsten steels, stainless steels, heavy steel plate, and seamless pipe. People’s Liberation Army (PLA), named in 1946, is China’s military force. It consists of the army, navy, and air force. In the late 1980s the PLA was approximately 3 million strong, making it the world’s largest military force. The navy has 260,000 members, 25,000 naval air force, 6,000 in marines, 470,000 in air force, and 220,000 in air defense. The army is supported by a national militia of about 12 million and by a security force of more than 1.8 million. The navy has more than 1,700 vessels, including 90 submarines, one armed with nuclear missiles. The air force has an estimated 5,000 combat aircraft. Although China has made significant progress in developing nuclear weapons, in comparison with the U.S. or the former USSR, its arsenal is small. The Chinese Republic maintained an unsubstantial existence from 1912 until 1949. Although a constitution was adopted and a parliament convened in 1912, Yuan Shih-k’ai never allowed these institutions to inhibit his personal control of the government. Yuan, by popular opposition, was forced to restore the empire and install himself as emperor. He died in 1916, and political power passed to the provincial warlords for more than a decade. During Wold War I, Japan sought to gain a position of undisputed supremacy in China. In 1915, China received the so-called Twenty-one demands from Japan. The terms would have turned China into one of Japan’s protectorate. China Yielded to a modified version of Japan’s demands, only agreeing to the transfer of German holdings in Shandong to Japan. The belated entry of China into the war on the Allied side in 1917 was designed to gain China a seat for the peace table and a chance to check the ambitions of the Japanese. China had been expecting support from U.S., according to the Open Door policy. President Woodrow Wilson, however, at Versailles withdrew U.S. support of China on the Shandong issue when Japan withdrew its demands for a racial-equality clause in the League of Nations Covenant. The Chinese delegation, indignant, refused to sign the Treaty of Versailles. The many Chinese youth and intellectuals had looked to the West for models and ideals for the reform of China, were crushed by Wilson’s betrayal at Versailles. When China received the news, a mass anti-Japanese protest erupted at the University of Beijing and swept throughout the country, The May Fourth Movement of 1919. A period of reappraisal followed, from which two objectives emerged: to rid China of imperialism and to reestablish a national unity. Disillusioned by the Western self-interest imperialist powers, the Chinese became more and more interested in the Soviet Union, in the Marxist-Leninist thought. In Shanhai, 1921, the Chinese Communist party was organized, among its original members, Mao Zedong.
As Japanese aggression once again began to intensify, popular pressure started mounting for the Chinese to stop fighting among themselves and unite against Japan. By 1937 Japan and China were plunged into full-scale war. During World War II, the Communists organized the peasantry in their support and built up their ranks. The Soviet Forces turned over stockpiles of captured Japanese weapons and ammunition to the Communists. The Communists as a result emerged from World War II stronger and far larger than before. Once again in January 1947 the conflict between the Communists and the Nationalists became a full-scale civil war. In the summer of 1949, Nationalist resistance collapsed. The government sought refuge on the island of Formosa. The decision by the U.S. government to seek contacts with the People’s Republic led to Taiwan’s expulsion from China’s seat in the United Nations and the seating of the rival regime in 1971. U.S. President Richard Nixon, then visited Beijing, in 1972 and the subsequent opening of an U.S. liaison office in the People’s Republic. Many other nations withdrew their diplomatic recognition of Taiwan in the wake of these developments. The U.S. formalized its relations with the People’s Republic at the beginning of 1979, thereby ending its ties to Taiwan. Led by General Kai-Shek, on December 8, 1949, the Nationalist government of China established its headquarters at Taipei. Communist plans to invade Taiwan were frustrated by the U.S. military personnel, which in 1950 sent naval forces to defend the island. U.S. further announced that U.S. military personnel would be sent to Taiwan to assist in the training of Nationalist forces in April 1951. For the remainder of the 1950s, despite sporadic hostilities between Taiwan and the People’s Republic, the U.S. shielded the National government from an invasion by the Communists. In 1954, the Nationalist and U.S. government signed a mutual-defense treaty by which the U.S. agreed to take action against the Chinese mainland if the Communist regime attacked Taiwan. The United States, during this time, also extended to the Taiwan regime massive economic and military aid, enabling it to build up the island’s economy. By the mid 60s, when the U.S. terminated its aid to Taiwan, Taiwan’s economy flowed more that 4 billion dollars. Its industrial production had risen by 300 percent, exports had tripled, and exports had doubled. Taiwan had become a showcase of modern economic health. China is completely monopolized by foreign trade. Since 1979 China has relaxed certain trade restrictions making way for increases in the relatively small trade activity and foreign investment. In the late 1980s China’s yearly exports totaled about 41.1 billion dollars and imports about 46.4 billion dollars. China’s principal exports include cotton fabric, silk, clothing, crude and refined petroleum, rice, frozen shrimp, tea, and pork. The largest imports where machinery, steel products, other metals, synthetics, automobiles, rubber, agricultural chemicals, wheat and ships. “As China has sought to modernize its economy, foreign trade has been used to bring in new equipment and technologies as well as to meet scarcities in the domestic economy. Exports have been used to produce foreign earnings to pay for the imports. The Chinese have sought to maintain an even balance of trade so they can pay for imports rather than buying on credit.” (Compton’s Interactive Encyclopedia, 1994) The Clinton Administration believes that the U.S. cannot reach “full potential” without “significant” improvement in China’s human rights. A good example of China not acknowledging human rights is the big fiasco in Tiananmen Square, April 16, 1989. About 1,000 students began a pro-democracy demonstration in Beijing, in Tiananmen Square, a plaza in the center of the city. Triggered by the death of former Communist party General Secretary Hu Yaobang, April 15. Despite government warnings, the protest continued for a month, drawing more than 250,000 supporters. By May 17, more than a million people were protesting down at the Square. On June 4, thousands of Army troops stormed Tiananmen Square, using tear gas, tanks, machine guns, and clubs they attacked unarmed protesters. The U.S. estimated that more than 3,000 civilians were killed. By the end of June more than 1,600 people had been arrested, 27 executed. As of June 29, 1998, there are still 158 Beijing residents still being held for their roles in the Tiananmen Square riot. China’s government does not allow due process, and does allow torture. China’s most-favored-nation trade status with the U.S. was renewed despite human rights abuses, including reports that Chinese prisons were using forced labor to produce goods for export to the United States. In the late 1970s and 1980s the Taiwanese government rejected the offers of reconciliation that came from Beijing. Taiwan began to soften against the government of Beijing by early 1990. Tourism and trade began to develop. In 1991 a plan to reconstruct the government, and a long-term, three-phase plan for reunification with Mainland China was introduced. Foreign trade is essential to the Japanese economy. Apprehensive of Soviet-Vietnamese encirclement, China enhanced closer ties with Japan. Most Japanese exports went to territories controlled by the empire. The United States needs to construct a strong, stable, open, prosperous relationship with China because:– China is the world’s most populous nation, and the third largest landmass.– China has a growing military power, a key role in regional stability.– China is one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.– China promises to be a preeminent economic power early in the next century. The Official U.S. Foreign Policy with China should have as follows: — Respect for internationally recognized standards of human rights. — To promote global peace and security. — Active participation in putting a halt to the spread of weapons. In conclusion, China’s economy has changed drastically since the People’s Republic has taken over the Mainland. Even though rough times did hit the Republic of China, Taiwan still landed on its feet. China and Taiwan have slowly made contact again with each other, and the U.S. Although China and the U.S. have some things to work out, when it comes to the Foreign Policy, once the wrinkles are worked out, China and the U.S. will find that all the effort was worth the support that we offer each other.